The suspension violates international law and Canada is
responsible for the safety of expelled Iranian diplomats, Iran’s
ministry said in the statement, according to state TV’s website.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani canceled a trip
to Canada in protest over the decision to cut diplomatic ties,
the state-run Fars agency reported without saying where it got
the information. A delegation including Larijani was to attend a
meeting of legislators from various countries scheduled in
October, according to the Fars report published yesterday.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Sept. 7
his country is suspending diplomatic relations with Iran and
designating the country as a sponsor of terrorism. Canada will
close its embassy in Tehran and expel Iranian diplomats from
Canada, Baird told reporters in Vladivostok, Russia.

Israel welcomed the decision. “I call on the international
community, at least its responsible members, to follow in the
determined path of Canada and set moral red lines and actions
where it concerns Iran, lines that will stop its race for
nuclear weapons,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said today at the start of the Cabinet meeting, according to an
e-mail from his office.

The U.S. has limited dealings with Iran since 1979, when
militants took 52 hostages at the American embassy in Tehran.
The United Nations levied four sets of sanctions against Iran
starting in 2006. The European Union embargoed Iranian oil
imports from the start of July.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely intended for
civilian purposes.